WordPress Security Vulnerabilities

WordPress Security

As we all know that running a WordPress-based website is often a pleasure, enabling you to focus on content and building relationships with readers and other websites.

Half of the WordPress sites out there are self-hosted, which means that the WordPress administrator carries the share of responsibility for a secure installation. Out of the box, there are several ways that WordPress security can be tightened down, but only a fraction of sites actually do so. This makes WordPress an even more popular target for hackers. Its popularity for being used globally on millions of websites, is a big threat also, as if, exploit found on one, can be replicated on thousands of sites.

However, not everyone on the web is as friendly as you. Somewhere out there is a list with your blog’s name on it, where it sits, waiting to be targeted by hackers? When they get around to your blog, they’ll try various tactics to gain access to it, perhaps with the aim of selling legal drugs or infecting your visitor’s computers with malware.

Here is a list of top WordPress Security vulnerabilities:

1. SQL Injection & URL Hacking: WordPress is a database-backed platform that executes server-side scripts in PHP. Both of these characteristics can make WordPress vulnerable to malicious URL insertion attacks. Commands are sent to WordPress via URL parameters, which can be abused by hackers who know how to construct parameters that WordPress may misinterpret or act on without authorization.

SQL injection describes a class of these attacks in which hackers embed commands in a URL that trigger behaviors from the database. (SQL is the command language used by the MySQL database.) These attacks can reveal sensitive information about the database, potentially giving hackers entrance to modifying the actual content of your site. Many of today's website defacement attacks are accomplished by some form of SQL Injection.

Most WordPress installations are hosted on the popular Apache web server. Apache uses a file named .htaccess to define the access rules for your website. A thorough set of rules can prevent many types of SQL Injection and URL hacks from being interpreted.

2. Access to Sensitive Files: Basically WordPress install has a number of files which you don’t want unauthorized persons to access. These files, such as the WordPress configuration file, install script, and even the “read-me” file should be kept private.
As with preventing URL hacking, you can add commands to the Apache .htaccess file to block access to sensitive private files.

Any element of predictability gives hackers an edge. Instead, log into WordPress and create a new user with an unpredictable name. Assign administrator privileges to this user. Now delete the account named “admin”. A hacker would now need to guess both the username and password to gain administrator access, a significantly more challenging feat.

4. Default Prefix for Database Tables: The WordPress database consists of numerous tables. In many WordPress installs, these tables are named with a default prefix that begins with “wp_“. For hackers, the ability to predict anything can provide an extra advantage.

An easier way to change table prefixes for an existing WordPress installation is by using the plug-in named Better WP Security. This plug-in contains several defenses including some discussed elsewhere in this article, with a simple point-and-click interface to change your table names to include a randomly-generated prefix.

5. Brute-Force Login Attempts: Hackers often rely on automated scripts to do their dirty work. These scripts can make numerous attempts to log into your WordPress administration page by trying thousands and millions of combinations of user-names and passwords.

A successful brute-force attack against a strong password effectively becomes impossible with these limits in place, because the hacker can never try enough variations (or rather, it would take many years of continuous attempts).

Two WordPress plug-ins which let you enforce a login limiter are Limit Login Attempts and the aforementioned Better WP Security.

WordPress is the peak prominent content management system of the online world. Although WordPress from the time of its starting did see the sorrow picture of denunciation. But within a few fractions of time, WordPress was adopted by plenty of brands that give new height to the famous content management.

The feature of open source makes WordPress exposed to hack attacks, hereafter webmasters were bound to consider WordPress Security Issues as a serious matter. Secure WordPress removed the display of or access to information, folders, and protocols that may be more likely to be used by hackers than site admins.

The first and foremost requirement of any WordPress website is its security. Due to outdated core files and /or plugins, a website becomes much more Prone to hackers as outdated files are easily perceptible. Therefore, WordPress Security is an important task and has to be followed in any case. Generally, WordPress attacks are caused due to plugin vulnerabilities, weak passwords, and obsolete software. WordPress Security will hide the places where these vulnerabilities reside and thus avoid the attackers to know much more about the site and keeping them away from sensitive areas like login, admin, etc.

The process of Hardening WordPress is not hard or complex, It just requires that we should be well versed to be as webmaster/mistress and be able to understand what our exposures are, and how to minimize our risks for running WordPress on our own website.In other words, Hardening WordPress means to Secure WordPress from external attacks.

SQL injection is a code injection technique that exploits a WordPress Security Vulnerabilities occurring in the database layer of an application.

For Securing WordPress there are a number of plugins which assures us to give Secure WordPress and also to solve out WordPress Security Issues and they are as follows:

Stability: Upgrade to the latest version for critical updates to patch, update and harden the systems. While tightening the security, updates bring new features and improvements.

Delete old outdated plugins or themes.

WP DB Backup: WP DB Backup is easy to use a plugin and by mean of few clicks we can backup the core of WordPress database tables.It can secure WordPress powered website easily.

WP Security Scan: This plugin can simply scan the WordPress powered site. It catches the vulnerabilities in the site and gives suitable guidelines regarding their removal.

Ask Apache Password Protect: This plugin doesn’t control WordPress or mess with the database, instead, it utilizes fast, tried-and-true built-in features of WordPress Security to add multiple layers of security to the blog.

Stealth Login: The Stealth Login plugin will help us in creating custom URL addresses for login, registering and log out of WordPress.

Login Lockdown: Login Lockdown will help us to lock attempts for a period of time on logging in to the admin panel after a number of attempts.

WP-DB Manager: This is another great plugin which allows us to manage our WP database. It could be used as an alternative to the WordPress Backup Manager.

Admin SSL Secure Plugin: It is another plugin which keeps our admin panel secure. It acts on the SSL encryption and is really useful against hackers or people who are trying to get unallowed access to the panel. It is the competitor of the Chap Secure Login Plugin.

User Locker: To avoid brute-force hacking the site, the User Locker plugin should be adopted. It works on the same system as Login Lockdown, however, it’s a 5-stars rated WP plugin which has a great fame among its users.

Limit Login Attempts: Limit Login Attempts blocks the internet address from making further attempts after a specified limit on retries is reached, making a brute-force attack difficult or impossible.

Login Encryption: Login Encrypt is a security plugin. It uses a complex combination of DES and RSA to encrypt and secure the login process to the admin panel.

One Time Password: For Securing WordPress this unique plugin will help us to set a one-time password for the login, in order to prevent logging of unwanted users from internet cafes or such.

Antivirus: Antivirus is a pretty common security plugin which will help us to keep our blog secured against bots, viruses, and malware.

Bad Behavior: Bad Behavior is the plugin which helps us to fight with those annoying spammers. The plugin will not only help us to prevent spam messages on the blog but also will try to limit access to the blog, so they won’t be able even to read it.

Exploit Scanner: It searches the files and database of the WordPress install for signs that may indicate that the files or the database have fallen victim to malicious hackers.

User Spam Remover: It helps us to prevent and remove the unwanted spam messages.

Block Bad Queries: This plugin attempts to block away all malicious queries attempted on our server and WordPress blog. It works in the background, checking for excessively long request strings (i.e., greater than 255 chars), as well as the presence of either “eval(” or “base64” in the request URI.

Thus WordPress Security is not only imperative but the core functionality of its conduct.